Question Number: 25764

Law 11 - Offside 11/22/2011

RE: competive Adult

Oliver bolton of preston, england asks...

If a player is stood over the goal line in the back of the net is he deemed offside, surely the ball is dead when it crosses the line??

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The general rule is that an attacking player who is temporarily off the field of play is not in offside position. The player, however, can commit misconduct off the field that affects play inside the field of play.

A player off the field who interferes with a defender's ability to see or play the ball, should be cautioned and no goal should be allowed. If the referee stopped play to deal with the misconduct, the restart would be a dropped ball where the ball was located when play stopped. If, instead, the ball entered the goal (last touched by a member of the attacking team) but a goal was disallowed, the restart would be a goal kick.

It is not an infringement simply to be off the field of play. If the player behind the goal line did nothing that affected play, the goal should be allowed.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Oliver
For an offside offence to be completed the player in an offside position has to interfere with play or interfere with an opponent. As the player is off the field of play he cannot interfere with play ie touch the ball.
If a player simply stands off the FOP and does nothing there is no offence.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

For offside purposes, this player is considered to be on the goal line. However, since he is off the field of play it would be difficult if not impossible for him to commit an offside offense. As you say, once the ball crosses over the goal line it is no longer in play so the player could not interfere with play or gain an advantage by being in an offside position. He could interfere with an opponent by yelling at him but this would be considered unsporting behavior, not offside, and the restart would be a dropped ball where the ball was when play was stopped